Krill are marine crustaceans (Class Malacostraca, Order Euphausiacea) comprising approximately 86 species, a majority of which are free swimming, and are considered plankton. Krill sometimes form dense swarms that can extend over several square kilometers and represent a biomass of thousands or even millions of tons.
There are currently several active krill fisheries but these are dominated by two; one based in Antarctica for E. superba and the other based predominantly in Japan (but also Canada) targeting E. pacifica. Together these two fisheries (E. superba and E. pacifica) represent at least 97% of the total krill landed. The low levels of environmental pollutants in the Antarctic krill is a benefit for the utilization of the krill for health products. Currently available krill products for human consumption is mainly based on krill oil in where the protein fraction is removed.
To utilize the whole krill for nutritional supplements or for pharmaceuticals (clinical nutrition) there is a need for compositions and formulations in where most of the nutrients and the bioactive components from krill are kept intact and where both lipid soluble and lipid insoluble micronutrients which are required can be in mixed in a feasible way.
While the overall beneficial effects of krill compositions (e.g., for example, krill oil) have been suggested, compositions are unavailable that provide an effective therapeutic treatment without repeated daily doses. Due to this, there is a great need for effective nutritional supplements that contain sufficient concentrations of therapeutic krill oil components such that a only a single daily dose is required.